Wales are unimpressed with the downbeat media reaction to their victory over France last week, a success that preserved their unbeaten start to the Six Nations and left them needing to win their final two matches to secure the title for the third time in five years.
Their match against England at Twickenham next week is effectively the title decider, and while Wales are not contemplating the media gag that the hosts’ head coach Eddie Jones has threatened to impose on himself, there will be a lack of bonhomie after some columnists called for a shake-up of the coaching team following another struggle in attack.
“I’m a bit lost by it all, really,” said the Wales kicking coach, Neil Jenkins. “I have heard a few comments, but it was five [wins] on the bounce against France. I played against them on many occasions and if you managed to win once it was a pretty good achievement.
“France are an improving team and a year ago they may have broken. We had the opportunities to have won by a little bit more and were not clinical enough, but we were up against a tough, physical side that is getting better and which will be tough to beat going forward. If anyone had offered me five out of five, I would have bitten their hand off. It is a fantastic achievement by our players, a huge positive in itself and France would like a bit of what we have.”
The scrum-half Rhys Webb is in contention for Wales for the first time since he broke his ankle against Italy before the World Cup, while the Leicester centre Manu Tuilagi has been training with England this week.
“We all know Rhys’s quality and he played well for Ospreys last weekend,” said Jenkins. “If he can get up and running, he is going to be there or thereabouts for us. We will see how this weekend goes for him. I am not saying he will be playing against England, but he could well come into the equation in terms of the wider squad.
“Manu is a class act and as soon as he was fit there was no doubt he would come back into their squad. He has played a few games and his presence will only be a positive for them. It will be interesting to see if they change a winning team as Jonathan Joseph, Owen Farrell and George Ford have been playing well. That is up to Eddie Jones.”
Before Warren Gatland took over as Wales’s head coach they had gone 20 years without a victory at Twickenham and suffered a number of humiliating defeats, but they have now won three of their last five matches there, while the fixture itself has yielded four away victories in the last six meetings between the sides.
“I had a few hammerings a there as a player,” said Jenkins. “It is a tough place to go, but there is more confidence about going there in the team today than in my playing career. There will be pressure on both teams: England are going for the grand slam while we want to be able to win the championship by beating Italy the following week. It is a do or die game for us and we cannot afford to lose.”
